Why are so many female athletes gay

Recent research suggest little has changed. This included commissioning researchers to conduct a detailed mixed method investigation.

Sexual Orientation and Gender : And the normalisation of queer people in sports isn’t limited to football, LGBTQIA athletes are thriving in all different areas of sport

I recall this being discussed on Inside the NBA at least a decade ago, the former players knew some of their teammates were gay, but it was understood that their private life was private. However, researchers have also found this to be the case in western countries for girls with cultural backgrounds that have outdated norms related to gender.

Recent Comments. Female athletes are much more likely to be homosexual than the general population. The stereotype that many female athletes, particularly those in soccer, are lesbian could have originated from societal gender norms. Search for:. Historically, women participating in sports, especially those considered masculine like soccer, have been seen as non-conformist.

Out LGBTQ women outnumber : If we look at professional football as a social phenomenon in the context of LGBT rights, a certain stereotype-like trend becomes visible: in women’s football, it sometimes seems that nearly everyone is a lesbian, while in men’s football, openly gay players are practically is noticeable even in what becomes news and sparks online discussions

It's the second, not the first. We explore why. While there's a record number of out gay and bi men at the Paris Olympics, it's still way less than the out women. The stigma and discrimination that girls and women experience when they play sports such as rugby, cricket, or ice hockey has been extensively documented in hundreds of studies by researchers over the last half-century see timeline.

Most female rugby players in the UK and Canada say people automatically assume they are lesbians for playing the sport. A recent BBC documentary highlights how this stigma is particularly challenging for women and girls from non-Anglo backgrounds in developing countries.

Though the comments from one female cricket player to the researchers highlights the complexity of addressing these issues:. The British research was conducted in partnership with the Harlequins rugby club in response to players continuing to report stigma and discrimination.

Male athletes are about as likely. Recent research on the approach that sports in Australia have taken to address stigma highlighted the work of Cricket Australia as a useful case study for other sport governing bodies.